2022 passed away mercifully once the death was called and the machines that had provided its heart and soul since its sickly birth were unplugged. Born out of an oppressive eternity of lingering pandemic fears, a thin and weak 2022 suffered each day from the weariness of universal distrust, separation anxiety and an inability to thrive.

Left alone with just a zoom nanny still masked up, it learned nothing and found the new normal an exercise in the cancerous malignancy of depressive nothingness. 2022 was rumored to be one of humanity’s last, choked, flooded, burned, plagued with wars, hatred, division, divisiveness, left teetering of the edge of eroded embankment the angry ocean waiting for high tide to come and sweep it away…yet the year hung on to it sad forgettable costly end adding nothing, taking much, leaving us all worst for it having existed.

2022 leaves no direct decedents futile finger swipes and lonely midnight tappings incapable of procreation. No memorial is planned, thought and prayers need not be said. 2022 having never risen from dust will simply blow away into nothingness of its own accord. Memorials can be sent to 2023. Cash donations only, no crypto.

It was a Test

the Kissing Tree

bent and broken

having lived through

many a Drought.

A Game of Opposite

Instincts

Brought together

Outside where is was Agreed

lips would touch

to see if Insults could be erased.

After

the one kiss

Elegant or Garbage

we Fight

make Peace

or Run

no judge or Jury

the only sound

the wind on the Beach

your lips meeting mine

merging

seeking

whispering Bravo.

It is at midnight

when the words in my mind

converge into a storm

of regrets

replaying my top 40

worse moments

in living color.

So long past

repairing

yet I can't stop

creating dialogue

for what I should have said

done

knowing

I can't go back

my kisses now

hold

no power

to make it all better.

The "Obstruction" challenge brought out many variations on the theme...some sad, some brutal...many from new Prose writers.

The winner is:

"It Will Never burn" by @HeyItsJhaz

Honorable Mentions:

"Inward Glimpse" by @H1

and

"I" by @aflalo222

Create a vacuum.

The universe will fill it

sucking in whatever is close

holding firm.

Santa never came to our house

he wasn't welcome

we opened humble gifts

of socks, underwear and one game to share

just before midnight

gifts the baby would bring.

I had friends who believed

then saw their faith

in all that is

dashed

when the truth came out

as it always does

around fifth grade.

Some other kids

learned to hoax their parents

into providing wishes unlimited

with cynicism

into sixth grade

those kids carried their dubious gifts

of disenchanted distrust long

after I outgrew

my underwear

several times over.

My thanks to all those who expressed themselves so beautifully in these challenges. Comedy, being the most challenging to craft had fewer entries than the other two hence prized accordingly.

"Your Most Hilarious Thanksgiving" Challenge

Winner: "Sometimes Things Shape Up" by @amandabjaworski

"Thankfulness" Challenge

Winner: "A, B, C, D" by @rlove327

Honorable Mentions:

"The Gap" by @JulienSorel

"Blessed by a Good Mama" by @Huckleberry_Hoo

"Gifts" Challenge

Winner: "untitled" by @goldstar

Honorable Mentions:

"State of Gratitude" by @Uschibear

"gratitude verity quod habemus in satis" by @dctezcan

Running out of hangers

and weary of buying more

I stopped to look at the racks of clothes

I've moved from state to state

always thinking

perhaps in keeping them

I'd wear them again

and feel like I did

when they defined who I was

just three...five.....ten..........years ago.

Today

I plucked them out

and packed them in bags to be given away

to those

still young and sexy

to enjoy

as I make room

for clothes of simple comfort.

It felt good to let go of

that my lovely past

and the nagging hope upon hope

that I could ever be who I was back then

is it so hard to acknowledge

the things that hold you back from the present

until you find closets too full

yet have nothing to keep you warm

now that snow is falling.

I spent a day with doctors

who explained

the internal scarring

pinching closed straggled loops

deep in within my small intestine

is real as is the intense pain

but none would

provide release

unless

full obstruction

a medical emergency occurred

then they would open me up immediately

and remove the knot created in my bowels.

We all have obstructions

deep in our guts that cause intense pain

that comes and goes

often unbearable

in our lives.

They pressed their fingers in deep

until I yelped

feeling the spot

for themselves

as I laid

white crinkly paper crunching audibly

stiffen toes curled

then they had me sit up

with their fingers still pressing hard

and I yelled out

the pain excruciating

demonstrating

to me and for the record

putting pressure on

unhealed trauma

only made things unbearable.

So they advised

I refrain from insistently irritating

the hair trigger rawness that is real

from both the inside and out

the only balm

they could provide.